Special, who tends to treat the white pegs with a lordly disdain, actually stayed on the course and scored 19. Stage three was a new one, with a judicious mixture of muddy swamp, Austin 7-high reeds , a nasty turn and then a stop/start on a steep shingly climb. The organisers presumed most would get to the shingly climb, thus the stop/start, but the nasty turn turned very nasty and slippery indeed, so very few got beyond that, and if they did, met their demise at the stop/ start. A low scoring stage especially for those that started at the end of the field, with the muddy swamp claiming many victims. So going into stage four, Jelfs Shelf, many competitors were muddy but unbowed, to misquote Invictus, not a state of mind the organisers were aiming for, but a bit of thinking and strategy is always needed on this time honoured stage, and proved to be the undoing of many. With steep ascents and descents, some mud and a tricky hairpin, this stage has it all, but the old campaigners did well, and quite a few scored 20. It’s great stage for spectators and hecklers, but not for those with a wide turning circle or a sensitive nature. Lunch time meant repair time for some and then it was down to the far end for Newells Nemisis, and once again, the old hands tended to get 20 far too easily. The first turn claimed a few victims, and lots of bouncing was needed for the track, but the final hill was far too dry and next year, guess where a stop/start will be? However, quiet confidence quickly turned to gloom as competitors walked or perhaps waded the course on Stage six, and after the first car sank up to its hocks at 16, the organisers and the crowd settled down to enjoy a classic mudplug type stage. The competitors were very sporting and charged at the morass at maximum rpm, and it became quickly apparent that standing behind a car meant a substantial drycleaning bill. Remarkably no engines were completely destroyed, but George Kear did regret removing his front mudguards at lunchtime. I have seldom seen a muddier person. No one got too stuck getting back to terra firma, and the warmth of the Anglers Arms at Sefton was a welcome refuge for all. The highly desirable Old Boot Trophy is to be shared this year, as Gordon Dacombe from Nelson in his Morris Sports and Lance Braid from Hokitika shared first place, with posterboy Avon Hyde only three points behind, in third place. One
of the Molyneux brothers, in his Covid Special Model A won a bottle of wine for embodying the Spirit of the Day, which means he was grinning all day in a not very competitive car, and having the time of his life. And that’s what Balcairn is all about.
MONTE TARGO 2020
Central Otago Branch Words Graham Taylor and Don Yeaman Photos by Lynne Yeaman An idea came to me during lockdown. I hadn’t had a good vintage drive for a while and came across the Banks Peninsula Monte Carlo rally rules. With some tweaking to allow for a shorter time duration, the rules went out in Puff n Stuff in May. Fast forward to the event which substituted for the Daffodil Rally, 17 cars and crew arrived at Cromwell via the Haast Pass, Crown Range, Lindis Pass and Moa
Creek, one of which was a compulsory passage. After that it was a matter of making up 250 points; there were three real dogs and two look-a-likes worth 20 points, coffee 10, NZ flag 20. The aim was to do something with a difference, cars were all over the place and only came together occasionally. The Cardrona Hotel was the most popular coffee stop, then the finish at the Cromwell clubrooms, where there was swapping of stories and lunch.
Yogi the teddybear added a valuable 20 points to the authors score.
From left to right are Rod and Ann Corbett, Mike Elliott, Pam and Jerry Vaughn.
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